Dixon 2Henry Horner Projects was the stage in the lives of the Rivers’ family as it was for many of the people who lived there. It was like its’ very existence dictated the lives of the occupants. Families raised their families there and those children grew up to raise their children there too and it was commonplace. If that wasn’t enough the families often became true victims of their environment by getting involved in the lifestyle that was connected to real inner city living. The subject matter of the book shows the conditions of poor people in the subsidized housing projects of Chicago, Illinois. The Rivers’ are members of a poor family. The family lives in Henry Horner Homes, a subsidized housing project in Chicago. The family relies on welfare and federal assistance for support. They cannot afford most luxuries and many necessities; therefore, life is an ongoing struggle to survive. Many adults and children reside in the family's household. These extra family members further strain and drain the family's resources and cramp their living room in the family's apartment. LaJoe has eight children, all living in the apartment: LaShawn, Weasel, Terence, Lafayette, Pharoah, Tammie, Tiffany, and Timothy. LaShawn has three children and Terence has three children. Paul, LaJoe's ex-husband, stays with the family on occasion as well as Leila Mae, LaJoe's mother. Gangs controlled the buildings in the projects. They hired residents of the buildings to store weapons and drugs in their apartments. Gang members sold drugs in the neighborhoods and attempted to obtain help in selling drugs from small children. Some gangs broke into apartments to steal from them and use them as safe havens against the police and other law enforcement agencies. Gangs have "turf wars" which resulted in gun battles which injured and killed many people, most of which are innocent bystanders. This community of high rise apartments was the home to LaJoe and her family as a child. It started out like her family had laid the groundwork for a solid foundation for her and her

Dixon 3siblings to have a productive life. Henry Horner for LaJoe in the past was a sign of the good life, there was fresh paint, flowers and light poles. The Housing Authority had money designated for the upkeep of the community in some ways I think this represented fullness of life for LaJoe. When the funding was no longer available for things to be repaired, the housing projects went neglected and the appearance of the complex quickly went downhill as did Lajoe’s desire for life. Crime and vandalism were extensive in the community. The police were ineffective and even if they did try to investigate a crime, the residents were hesitant to speak up due to the fear of being harmed by the ones who actually committed the crime. Gangs ruled the complex and drugs were sold from abandoned apartments (Kotlowitz, 1991).Rival gangs shot at each other and innocent bystanders became the backdrop for the violence.

There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz, tells the story of two boys growing up in the “other America” the true story of how life really is for most African Americans in similar circumstances….grim and dismal. The research by the author was extensive and probably dangerous not only to him but to the characters and sources who were interviewed. Mr. Kotlowitz provided a historical glimpse into the lives of the characters. It was important for the reader to understand how things came to be. These insightful perspectives provided a painful understanding of how easy it can be for a struggling, low resource family to be sucked into a hopeless cycle of generational depression and oppression. The families and ultimately the children of Henry Horner Projects were no exception to this vicious cycle. The most rewarding aspect of this book...

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...The streets of Chicago have always been riddled with gang violence and poverty in African American communities. Dominic A. Pacyga’s novel Chicago: A Biography explores the obstacles faced by blacks during the evolving of Chicago through accounts of public housing, street gangs, education, and juvenile delinquency. The film There Are No ChildrenHere tells the story of two boys growing up in a housing project in Chicago infested with crime and a shortage of money, guidance, and tranquility. Knowledge of the struggles of the residents of Chicago, in particular African Americans, is essential to the history of the city. Were these struggles possibly dreams deferred? Both Pacyga’s novel and the film There Are No ChildrenHere convey the trials and tribulations of the African Americans who made their homes in Chicago years ago. However, Pacyga displays a bird’s eye view while the film provides a front row seat to African American struggles in the evolving Chicago.
The 1993 film There Are No ChildrenHere explores the lives of Lafayette and Pharaoh Rivers, two young African American boys growing up in the Henry Horner Homes project in Chicago. Living off of government benefits and an alcoholic father, the boys lack a stable domestic environment. The world outside of their crammed apartment is also far from inviting. Having seen his older brother behind bars and two of his closest friends shot...

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"Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate. (Anonymous)” In the 1980 Chicago slums this quote couldn’t be truer. The slums were/are a terrible place for not just children, but everyone to live. The Henry Horner homes in particular are full of death, drugs, and poverty. This may not seem like the greatest place for children to be raised, but for some, they know nothing different. The constant gang trouble, drug trafficking, and hiding from stray bullets are an everyday occurrence for people living in these government housing complexes. The devastation is a never-ending cycle. The parents get into drugs and violence, and the children have no choice but to imitate their parents and everyone around them as they grow up. The end of the cycle is unseen for most, but for some, such as Lajoe Rivers that cycle will end with her youngest five children.
“But you know, there are no childrenhere. They’ve seen too much to be children. (Lajoe)”
The plot begins in the summer of 1987, the boys, Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers are enjoying their time near the tracks searching for snakes. Here, the boys could be children. They could let their imaginations run wild and they could just take a break from the horrible life they have waiting at home. Lafeyette and Pharoah are a part of large...

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and Lafeyette Rivers growing in the late 1980's in Henry Horner, a housing project in Chicago. The boys try to retain their youth while they see constant gang violence, death of close friends, their brother in jail and their dad struggling with a drug addiction.
In Horner, there are two gangs that claim it as their turf, and the Rivers family is constantly ducking from shots of gunfire there. They live in an overcrowded apartment with leaky facets, heating problems and animal carcasses in the basement. The boys' mother, LaJoe, tries to keep them away from gangs and violence since her eldest children fell to the harsh reality of the neighborhood. The children constantly have to protect themselves from danger and quickly lost their childhood along the way. LaJoe even has to purchase burial insurance for her children because she fears the worst due to the severity of Horner.
The boys find it difficult to have friends because most of the other children are involved in drugs and gangs. Pharaoh
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...There Are No ChildrenHere is the true story of two African American brothers growing up in a violence plagued Chicago housing project called Henory Hornor projects. Lafeyette and Pharoah are forced to survive a life surrounded by violence, gangs, drugs, racism, and horrors that should never befall a child's eyes. Through these dehumanizing conditions they are changed from innocent children to adults. There is no innocence to he found in their urban struggle.
Lafeyette and Pharoah struggle to hold on to each other in a feeble attempt to cling to their childhood purity, which is lost in this urban jungle. "There are no childrenhere" their mother says, "They've seen to much to be children." In this hostile environment they are forced to endure struggles that would be difficult for an adult to undertake such as their dad's drug abuse, to being shot at in drive by shooting. How could a child still be a child when they are afraid of being shot if they go outside? How could a child remain a child when he or she is whiteness to drug abuse. These children are forced to grow up at an extremely exhilarated rate in order to cope with the situations they are continually exposed to. The children of this so-called other America are drowning in a sea of hardships, the violence slowly consuming them.
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conceptions they have with each other is the real enemy.
We have preconceive notions of families living in the projects. We believe it's the people that
reside there is the reason why their environment is so atrocious. But the residents are not truly the one
to blame. The low income housing project was meant to be a positive “low-rent housing units
nationwide and provide shelter for the less fortunate.” (21) The alderman wanted to build houses for
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